Gordon Ramsay reveals skin cancer diagnosis and advises sunscreen use

Gordon Ramsay underwent surgery for basal cell carcinoma and has urged the public to wear sunscreen. Photo / Getty Images

The celebrity chef and Hell’s Kitchen star underwent surgery for basal cell carcinoma and shared photos of his stitches, urging the public to use sunscreen.

Celebrity chef and restaurateur Gordon Ramsay was diagnosed with skin cancer and underwent surgery to remove basal cell carcinoma from his jawline, he has said on social media, urging the public to wear sunscreen.

“Please don’t forget your sunscreen this weekend,” Ramsay, 58, said in a social media post. “I promise you it’s not a facelift! I’d need a refund,” he joked.

Ramsay, who shared photos of his bandages and stitches spanning from his earlobe to the beginning of his neck, is one of several celebrities to have shared skin cancer diagnoses in recent years.

Reality TV star and fashion entrepreneur Khloe Kardashian has spoken several times about her diagnosis of melanoma, a serious and potentially deadly form of skin cancer, on the side of her face. Australian actor Hugh Jackman has publicly shared his repeated run-ins with basal cell carcinoma, and singer Kevin Jonas also announced last year that he had a basal cell carcinoma removed.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Teddi Mellencamp has used social media in recent months to raise awareness about her escalating fight with melanoma, which has now spread to her brain and lungs.

More than 1.5 million new cases of skin cancer were diagnosed worldwide in 2022, according to estimates from World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, including some 330,000 cases of melanoma.

Ramsay’s social media post announcing his diagnosis was met with thousands of comments, some of which expressed beliefs that sunscreen was more harmful than good. His advice on applying sunscreen comes amid a growing movement on social media against the product, which has caused confusion about its benefits and alarmed public health experts who say avoiding sunscreen increases long-term health risks.

More Americans are using sunscreen regularly than in recent decades, but some wellness influencers have recently claimed that diet changes or building sun exposure can gradually help protect against burns instead – a claim that dermatologists and the scientific community has largely refuted, The Washington Post reported earlier this month.

Meanwhile, supporters of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s Make America Healthy Again movement have helped fuel scepticism toward sunscreen ingredients such as oxybenzone and titanium dioxide, suggesting without conclusive evidence that they can cause cancer. Public health experts say there are no human studies that prove ingredients like oxybenzone act as carcinogens.

Whether it’s chemical or mineral, sunscreen protects the skin by either absorbing or reflecting ultraviolet rays, and dermatologists recommend that those with darker skin also use it to protect against cancer.

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